It's the NFL, where experience means nothing, and team owners are apparently fooled by simple Jedi mind tricks. This is why Norv and Marty Schottenheimer will always find a team to shiat the bed, and soon enough another Jimmy Clausen/Curtis Painter/Caleb Hanie will be drafted and make more than any of his respected team's fans will ever see.

Gotta hand it to Schwartz and Norv, they not only pissed off their own fan bases but they're also being cursed by fans in New England and Denver. Houston and Baltimore both losing would have made the top of the AFC playoff race a lot more interesting to say the least. On the other hand, hosting Indy, Pittsburgh, Cincy or Miami in the first round is going to be as close to a bye as you can get for the three and four seeds in the AFC, so I guess there isn't as much gnashing of teeth as there could be this morning.

EyeballKid:Gonz: How in the HELL does Norv Turner still have a job this morning?

It's the NFL, where experience means nothing, and team owners are apparently fooled by simple Jedi mind tricks. This is why Norv and Marty Schottenheimer will always find a team to shiat the bed, and soon enough another Jimmy Clausen/Curtis Painter/Caleb Hanie will be drafted and make more than any of his respected team's fans will ever see.

Yeah, but Marty takes teams that are absolute trash and gets them to the conference championship and then can't get over the hump. Turner takes teams that have talent and turns them into absolute trash. He's like a reverse George Allen.

EyeballKid:Gonz: How in the HELL does Norv Turner still have a job this morning?

It's the NFL, where experience means nothing, and team owners are apparently fooled by simple Jedi mind tricks. This is why Norv and Marty Schottenheimer will always find a team to shiat the bed, and soon enough another Jimmy Clausen/Curtis Painter/Caleb Hanie will be drafted and make more than any of his respected team's fans will ever see.

Um...Clausen was a 2nd round pick, Painter a 6th, and Hanie went undrafted. Clausen was the only one with any semblance of expectations in that group. The draft is mostly a lottery, anyway, and is littered with "sure fire, can't miss" prospects that fizzle out. There is only so much you can measure in a draftee before you rely in guesswork.

Norv is an excellent offensive coach, but can't be a headcoach. Schottenheimer is a very good coach; he just panics in the playoffs and tries to coast when he gets ahead (re:Martyball). There are probably a dozen fanbases that would take Schottenheimer's choking in the playoffs over the current situation of annual 4-12 shiat teams.

UNC_Samurai:EyeballKid: Gonz: How in the HELL does Norv Turner still have a job this morning?

It's the NFL, where experience means nothing, and team owners are apparently fooled by simple Jedi mind tricks. This is why Norv and Marty Schottenheimer will always find a team to shiat the bed, and soon enough another Jimmy Clausen/Curtis Painter/Caleb Hanie will be drafted and make more than any of his respected team's fans will ever see.

Yeah, but Marty takes teams that are absolute trash and gets them to the conference championship and then can't get over the hump. Turner takes teams that have talent and turns them into absolute trash. He's like a reverse George Allen.

Marty went .500 with the Redskins, and had swaggering badass teams with: the Chargers, the Chiefs, and the Browns.

That's beyond coaching with a slight degree of difficulty. That's proof that the man's a wizard.

SirDigbyChickenCaesar:doyner: While Ray Rice's run did me in for the season in fantasy football, it was well worth it to see the butthurt in San Diego reach such epic proportions.

As a Bronco's fan I was torn. The comically awesome failure of this one play versus it cementing the fact that the Owner might actually now hire competent management/coaching.

Please. From the franchise geniuses that knowingly hired Martin Schottenheimer? And chose Phil Rivers over Breesus? And let LaDanaian Tomlinson go 2 or 3 years early (as well as giving him LT's nickname, an offense the football gods may forgive by 2030)?

Speaking as a Ravens fan, given that Rice was holding the ball at about level with his shoulders, there is no way that he is tall enough for the ball to be past the 34 when his knee touched the ground prior to the 35. But, it is common for the refs to give a player an extra half yard or so of forward progress on a given play.

I hate the Chargers, but you couldn't find 10 people when Brees went down with that injury that were confident he'd return in ample time, let alone become better than ever. Anyone who says "they knew Brees would be fine" is full of sh*t.

There's a reason why only two teams were seriously pursuing Brees when he became available. Hell, Peyton Manning is 63 years old, didn't even f*cking play last year, and still had half the league chasing him this offseason. There were THAT many doubts about Brees; not so much on his talent but his health.

SirDigbyChickenCaesar:doyner: While Ray Rice's run did me in for the season in fantasy football, it was well worth it to see the butthurt in San Diego reach such epic proportions.

As a Bronco's fan I was torn. The comically awesome failure of this one play versus it cementing the fact that the Owner might actually now hire competent management/coaching.

I, too, as a Broncos fan was torn, but for different reasons: watching the Chargers lose is always enjoyable, but we've pretty much knocked them out for the season. Baltimore losing would have been most helpful to our potential playoff seeding, especially since we've lost to Houston and New England.

SlothB77:Speaking as a Ravens fan, given that Rice was holding the ball at about level with his shoulders, there is no way that he is tall enough for the ball to be past the 34 when his knee touched the ground prior to the 35. But, it is common for the refs to give a player an extra half yard or so of forward progress on a given play.

Dr Dreidel:Please. From the franchise geniuses that knowingly hired Martin Schottenheimer? And chose Phil Rivers over Breesus? And let LaDanaian Tomlinson go 2 or 3 years early (as well as giving him LT's nickname, an offense the football gods may forgive by 2030)?

Brees had two atrocious seasons, one great season, and one good season (in which he regressed) in San Diego before tearing his labrum and the longevity of his arm was doubted. Lets not pretend that he was a top 5 quarterback his whole time with the Chargers. And top 5 draftees, at the time, made a crippling amount of money for teams. Brees is an excellent QB, but to claim the Chargers made a terrible judgement at the time is silly.

Also, LDT was released after his age-30 season in which his Y/A was 3.3, and he had regressed from his peak for three straight years and had injury concerns. He was a 3rd down back at that point, not a starter.

/I dislike the Chargers and pout-face, but they are far from the terrible organization they used to be

That run by Rice was epic. Great block by Boldin - in that type of situation are you allowed to block in the back because if that was a kickoff or punt, that was a flag-worthy block? That conversion should just never happen.

Smart play by Flacco for not forcing something and giving his stud RB a chance to make a play.

Dr Dreidel:And chose Phil Rivers over Breesus? And let LaDanaian Tomlinson go 2 or 3 years early (as well as giving him LT's nickname, an offense the football gods may forgive by 2030)?

More uneducated opinion.

Actually, they gave Tomlinson too many years, which cost them both Turner and Sproles. It's an understandable move in that you don't get rid of the guy who was with the franchise when they were actually sh*t-awful and just posted back-to-back Pro Bowl years...but they didn't heed what happened with Shaun Alexander when he got paid big bucks later in his career, and they got two more years of Tomlinson at sub-4.0 YPC.

And when you have two great QBs, and one tears his shoulder up in what was considered a potential career-ending injury in his last game of the season and his contract is up...well, you're probably not going to go sign him to a long-term deal. Also, he wouldn't have done nearly as well in San Diego as he has in New Orleans.

They hired Marty Schottenheimer when the franchise was 5-11 the previous year and hadn't had a winning season since 1995. Schottenheimer posted one losing season in five - his second year.

The problem comes from the front office that IS stupid, but not for any of the reasons you're giving.

I hate the Chargers, but you couldn't find 10 people when Brees went down with that injury that were confident he'd return in ample time, let alone become better than ever. Anyone who says "they knew Brees would be fine" is full of sh*t.

There's a reason why only two teams were seriously pursuing Brees when he became available. Hell, Peyton Manning is 63 years old, didn't even f*cking play last year, and still had half the league chasing him this offseason. There were THAT many doubts about Brees; not so much on his talent but his health.

That's more a slam on Rivers than it is White-Knighting Brees. Maybe it's residual ACC-hate, or his getting caught in the Eli-play-where-Eli-wanna-play thing (which is the reason Elisha Manning will never have my support - a crushing blow to his ego, I'm sure), or his Favresque support (have we all forgotten his INT from last week ALREADY?), but I really dislike Phil Rivers.

tnpir:SirDigbyChickenCaesar: doyner: While Ray Rice's run did me in for the season in fantasy football, it was well worth it to see the butthurt in San Diego reach such epic proportions.

As a Bronco's fan I was torn. The comically awesome failure of this one play versus it cementing the fact that the Owner might actually now hire competent management/coaching.

I, too, as a Broncos fan was torn, but for different reasons: watching the Chargers lose is always enjoyable, but we've pretty much knocked them out for the season. Baltimore losing would have been most helpful to our potential playoff seeding, especially since we've lost to Houston and New England.

Watching them blow a lead is always just delicious. I figure it is a foregone conclusion that they will not get a first round bye due to the tiebreakers so it doesn't matter much 3rd vs 4th...right now a toss up between indy and the bengals if Ben doesn't return.

For the ump millionth time: Cameron calls the plays, not Harbaugh. And the Ravens are 4-1 in game where Rice didn't get 20 touches this season, with the one loss being the blowout in Houston.

SlothB77:Great block by Boldin - in that type of situation are you allowed to block in the back because if that was a kickoff or punt, that was a flag-worthy block?

The block was legal on any play. Boldin came in from the side and got under the defender's shoulder pad.

degenerate-afro:Even if they spot the ball at the 34, he still had the first down.

They did spot the ball at the 34; apparently an NFL regulation football is now 18 inches long, because after announcing it would be spotted at the 33 1/2 one end was on the 34.

Still confused as to why it took so long to declare the first down. I understand that play was basically the ball game, but from the way the head official made the announcement ("The ball placement was incorrect, however (emphasis his)...") it was obvious that he knew it would still result in a first.

tnpir:SirDigbyChickenCaesar: doyner: While Ray Rice's run did me in for the season in fantasy football, it was well worth it to see the butthurt in San Diego reach such epic proportions.

As a Bronco's fan I was torn. The comically awesome failure of this one play versus it cementing the fact that the Owner might actually now hire competent management/coaching.

I, too, as a Broncos fan was torn, but for different reasons: watching the Chargers lose is always enjoyable, but we've pretty much knocked them out for the season. Baltimore losing would have been most helpful to our potential playoff seeding, especially since we've lost to Houston and New England.

facisto:I don't care if Rice converted that 4th down, that was still an awful decision by Flacco.

Rice was not Flacco's first or even second choice; those were covered. He saw Rice all alone in the flat and the defense backed up 20 yards downfield & realized that the smart play was to dump it off to his playmaker and let Rice work it in the open field. It was a very intelligent decision by Flacco, and a vastly better one than trying to force the ball to Smith or Boldin in double coverage.

Kornchex:Ha! This is exactly how we felt about you and Cutler. Maybe the Chargers can have a future HoF QB fall in their lap a few years down the road?

Oh, I'm well aware of that, and it used to piss me the f*ck off that your whiny emo biatch QB always seemed to get the better of our whiny emo biatch QB.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: say what you will about Josh McDaniels (and I certainly have), but shipping Cutler's crybaby ass out of Denver was the best thing that asshole ever did for the Denver Broncos.

Harv72b:facisto: I don't care if Rice converted that 4th down, that was still an awful decision by Flacco.

Rice was not Flacco's first or even second choice; those were covered. He saw Rice all alone in the flat and the defense backed up 20 yards downfield & realized that the smart play was to dump it off to his playmaker and let Rice work it in the open field. It was a very intelligent decision by Flacco, and a vastly better one than trying to force the ball to Smith or Boldin in double coverage.

Asking your RB to successfully make a 28 yard run after a 1-yard dump-off seems far less likely than asking Anquan Boldin or Torrey Smith to make a play in coverage. It was a bad decision vindicated by the most improbable and awesome runs after catches in recent history. Rice is a monster and he is clutch. Flacco threw up the white flag.

facisto:Harv72b: facisto: I don't care if Rice converted that 4th down, that was still an awful decision by Flacco.

Rice was not Flacco's first or even second choice; those were covered. He saw Rice all alone in the flat and the defense backed up 20 yards downfield & realized that the smart play was to dump it off to his playmaker and let Rice work it in the open field. It was a very intelligent decision by Flacco, and a vastly better one than trying to force the ball to Smith or Boldin in double coverage.

Asking your RB to successfully make a 28 yard run after a 1-yard dump-off seems far less likely than asking Anquan Boldin or Torrey Smith to make a play in coverage. It was a bad decision vindicated by the most improbable and awesome runs after catches in recent history. Rice is a monster and he is clutch. Flacco threw up the white flag.

For almost any other RB, I'd agree, but Ray Rice has done this (well, not "4th-and-29" this, but damn near) far too many times for it to be a total surprise.

AP, Forte, maybe Sproles (vintage Sproles, on a good day), and...?

// maybe Reggie Bush, now that he's started to show why he was supposed to be #1 overall

Um no, it was a stupid decision by Flacco that he got bailed out on by Rice and by San Diego's desperate attempts to get Norv fired that the front office keeps ignoring. But keep thinking Flacco's a good QB.

facisto:Asking your RB to successfully make a 28 yard run after a 1-yard dump-off seems far less likely than asking Anquan Boldin or Torrey Smith to make a play in coverage. It was a bad decision vindicated by the most improbable and awesome runs after catches in recent history. Rice is a monster and he is clutch. Flacco threw up the white flag.

IAmRight:Um no, it was a stupid decision by Flacco that he got bailed out on by Rice and by San Diego's desperate attempts to get Norv fired that the front office keeps ignoring. But keep thinking Flacco's a good QB.

I get it. If Flacco throws into double- or triple-coverage and the ball is batted away or deflected then he choked with the game on the line. If Boldin or Torrey Smith goes up over two defensive backs and makes in improbable catch, Flacco was an idiot for throwing it and got bailed out by his receiver. If he dumps it off to a wide-open receiver who is arguably the best open-field runner on the team and gets the first down, it was a stupid decision. Did I miss any scenarios?

IAmRight:Um no, it was a stupid decision by Flacco that he got bailed out on by Rice and by San Diego's desperate attempts to get Norv fired that the front office keeps ignoring. But keep thinking Flacco's a good QB.

At this point, I'm ready for them to lose out (except for the Oakland game of course) and get better picks to rebuild that line. Is that stupid logic?

I can only hope they don't hire the wrong guy. Is it worth giving Bilick another shot?